


The Knightly Servant

by Kat465k



Category: Boku no Hero Academia, My Hero Academia
Genre: >:o, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Bakugou Katsuki is Bad at Feelings, Bakugou is a horrible narrator, But so is Bakugou so-, End game tododeku, Endeavor is so hard to write for, Happy Ending, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm too lazy to work on the story right now that I'm making random tags, Im a sucker for happy endings, Inko is best mom, Izuku is pure, Izuku struggles in changing and bathing mannequins, Knight Bakugou, Less People have Quirks, M/M, Prince Shouto, Prince Todoroki Shouto, Quirkless Midoriya Izuku, Servant Deku, Servant Izuku, Some unrequited love, also a tsundere in some ways, also he's super mean!!!, argh i should go back to writing, bakugou is mean!!!, cuz it hurts for me to write sad endings, ill add more tags later, maybe...?, o.O, servant!deku, tells you a lot about my work ethic, the world may never know, why did I write Izuku having a big fat crush on Bakugou when this is a TodoDeku fic?, woah ELITE KNIGHTS, woah people have noticed me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-03-09 03:58:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13473219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat465k/pseuds/Kat465k
Summary: Izuku Midoriya has always aspired to be a Knight. Well, maybe he can’t be a knight because he doesn’t have a quirk, like Kacchan or the less than 10% of the population, and maybe he isn’t the strongest person in the world, but he could be a great manservant! At least that’s what’s Todoroki thinks.





	1. Izuku can become a knight!

_“You can’t become a knight.”_

     Those words echoed across the throne room, ringing loudly in Izuku’s ears. He felt fat tears roll down his cheek against his will. Before King Toshinori could say anything else, Izuku had fled the room.

 _I should’ve known. Being a knight was a dream too far out of my reach. Izuku thought as he ran in full speed._ He didn’t care where he was running, he didn’t care that his body ached head to toe, he needed to get as far away from his idol as possible.

**——————**

**_A Day Before..._ **

     Izuku was carrying his books full of notes from his favorite knights, (including the heroic knight and king, Toshinori) as he paced a gravel pathway. His eyes landed onto Town Square where he noticed a large crowd making a commotion. Out of curiously, he decided to check out what was going on.

 _Is it a riot? Is something important happening?_ Izuku questioned.

     Out of the crowd, Izuku immediately spotted a familiar explosive blond causing a loud commotion by shoving everyone in the crowd. He felt his heart beat pound against his chest at the sight.

_What’s Kacchan doing here? He would never attend a riot, right?_

     “Get outta my way you fucking extras!” Kacchan shouted.

      He heard loud threatening popping noises before the yelps from the innocent crowd. Izuku’s gut tightened while watching Kacchan’s explosions. He froze in terror from habit but couldn’t take his eyes off the handsome blonde boy.

      Everyone else fled Town Square in fear, leaving Kacchan alone to do whatever he wanted to do. He took out his pen and walked toward a wall with a flyer on it. He signed his name boldly.

     Izuku waited until Kacchan was out of sight before approaching the wall with the flyer. _The flyer was in calligraphy, most likely written by someone from the upper class._ Izuku analyzed. The flyer read:

_‘King Toshinori has requested a summons for all who wish to become knights. His majesty has agreed that twenty people will be mentored by Toshinori himself, and will become his most trusted knights. Sign your name on this flyer if you believe you have the potential and strength to become a part of these elite knights. A carriage will be waiting at the houses of those who are willing to be tested to become the greatest knights of All Might at dawn. He bids all who volunteer the best of luck.’_

     Izuku gaped and dropped his knight notebook. He stared at the flyer for longer than he should’ve. At the bottom of the page, was a long list of names Izuku didn’t recognize. He skimmed the page, stopping on the last name on the page, signed with a bold and almost illegible signature.

_Bakugou Katsuki._

     For a moment, his mind drifted to Kacchan when he was younger. _Kacchan always did want to be a knight, this would’ve been his perfect opportunity!_ Izuku’s heart swelled thinking about him. A shy smile formed on his lips. Then it hit him:

_Wait. This could be my opportunity too. I could finally become the knight he wanted to be ever since he was a little kid. By signing this piece of paper, I have the chance to be alongside King Toshinori as his knight among nineteen other brave knights._

     He reached for his spare pen and with shaking hands, signed the flyer.

     At that moment, it seemed like his faraway dream was within his reach. Even if the chance was slim, a chance was better than none at all.

     Izuku grabbed his notebook and was getting ready to go back home when he bumped into a taller body. He looked up to see pissed off crimson eyes staring back at him.

     “K-Kacchan! W-What are you doing here?” Izuku felt his face heat up as he stuttered at his childhood friend.

     “What are _you_ doing here, Deku.” His voice sounded more like a statement than a question. “Your quirkless ass would never become a knight, nonetheless an elite knight. You should give up.”

     “No.” Izuku retorted without thinking. He frantically put his hand over his mouth.

     “What did you just say to me, shitty nerd?”

     “I-Uh-I didn’t-ah-“ he stumbled across his words, his words inaudible. He blushed violently.

**——————**

     Katsuki grew more and more frustrated at Deku. While he was distracted and fumbled over his _stupid ass words_ , Katsuki punched his stomach.

     Deku yelped in surprise as his scrawny body fell to the floor. His expression twisted when he looked at Katsuki. He hated that face. His green eyes widened as fat tears came pouring out. His shitty body trembled in fear. Katsuki hated it. He just needed to put Deku in his place, nothing else. Still, he felt his rage get out of control. He stomped over to him. Katsuki kicked and thrashed Deku until he started to cough up blood. He put his foot on his head and pressed hard. He sneered at the cowering body. Deku squealed before abruptly shutting up. Katsuki eventually took his foot off of Deku, allowing him to stand up. Katsuki spoke.

     “I want to shine by being the only person from this stupid city to become one of the elite knights,” Katsuki stated. “After all, I am a perfectionist.”

     Deku could only shake as he spoke, unable to make a coherent reply. Katsuki leaned closer to Deku, grasping his shoulder. Smoke sizzled from his hand, escaping from the creases between his fingers. Deku yelped at the sudden contact.

     “Don’t become a knight, nerd.”

     In a moment’s notice, Katsuki’s eyes averted to his knight notebook lying idly on the ground.

 _He must’ve fucking dropped it while I was beating the shit out of him._ Katsuki thought.

     An idea formed in Katsuki’s head. He reached for the notebook, before activating his quirk. The notebook flopped to the ground, it’s cover and contents charred and damaged.

**——————**

     A quirk. A special superhuman power that an individual can possess. Less than 10% of the population has obtained a quirk, and the small percentage that do have one are important people, like royal families or infamous knights. Passed down by blood. That’s why it was a surprise for 4 year old Bakugou Katsuki, an average kid in All Might with no one else in his family before him possessing a quirk, to be blessed with an insanely powerful one.

_Explosions._

     All the kids he knew his age watched in awe as Katsuki’s hands popped with miniature explosions. Katsuki loved the attention.

     “Wow!” An extra gaped.

     “Lucky!” Deku praised.

     “You could be an amazing knight with a flashy quirk like that, Katsuki!” His guardian smiled.

     They all sang their praises of his powerful quirk. Katsuki grinned at himself.

_Oh. I see. I’m amazing! I’m better than everyone else!_

**——————**

     Izuku could do nothing but stare at his notebook, now on the ground. The empty feeling in his stomach grew as he forced himself to look at Kacchan. He could feel more unwanted tears stream down his cheeks.

 _Why am I crying again? He’s always been beating me up ever since he got his quirk..._ Izuku cried in his head.

     For a second, Kacchan’s expression was unreadable, but he reverted back to his intimidating smirk.

     “Don’t mess with me while I become the best knight in all of All Might, Deku.” Kacchan’s red eyes burned through Izuku. Izuku gripped his chest as he felt his fragile heart shatter once again, as the love of his life walked away from him. Before he even realized it, Izuku had started to tear up again.

**——————**

     Izuku curled up in his bed the moment he got home. _Telling Mom about the good news would have to wait._ Lying next to him was his damaged notebook from the encounter with Bakugou. His chest ached along with the rest of his body. Thinking about Bakugou made him hurt more than the punches he threw at him.

     “Why does it always hurt like this?” Izuku muttered to himself. “Why can’t the pain just go away?”

     Izuku whimpered in his bed, unable to move. _Why do I have to love Kacchan out of all people?_ While crying, he noticed a bleeding wound on his stomach. Some of the blood had spilled onto his bed. He sighed, getting up to clean up his bruise. With a screeching squeal, he quickly treated all of his wounds. He remembers when Kacchan first started beating him up. He had asked his mom to heal up the wounds. His mom was obviously worried, asking him where he gotten the injuries. Izuku had lied to his mom. He didn’t want her to worry about his relationship with Kacchan.

_“I-I just fell on the way home! D-Don’t w-worry mom, I’ll make sure I won’t f-fall again!”_

_“There was this big wolf! It was t-twice my size!” Izuku spread his arms out. “It s-scratched me on my l-leg!”_

_“My b-burn marks? Uh... Uhmm...they’re from this bon fire that K-Kacchan and I started! It got a little out of hand, and it b-burned me a bit! It’s okay m-mom!”_

     If his mom saw past the lies, she didn’t say anything. She simply treated the wounds while scolding Izuku about getting hurt. His mom did it enough times that Izuku learned how to treat them himself. Nowadays he can do it without even thinking much about it.

     He walked out of his room to have dinner. He put on the biggest smile he could and greeted his mom.

     “Hey mom! I have good news!”

     His mom turned to face him. She had heavy bags under her eyes. Sadness was painted all over her face and posture. Her eyes widened at the bandages, but she greeted him anyway.

     “Hello Izuku dear, I’m making Katsudon for dinner. Come sit down.” Her lips curved to make a small smile.

     He sits himself at the dining table. In a few minutes, she comes out of the kitchen with two plates of Katsudon, Izuku’s favorite food. “Thanks mom.”

     They eat in silence for a bit, enjoying the taste of the home cooked meal. His mom broke the silence.

     “You said you had good news, right? What is it Izuku?”

     Izuku swallowed his food. “There was a flyer in Town Square to sign up to try to become an elite knight and I signed up. They’re going to pick me up tomorrow at dawn to try out!”

     Izuku could see her expression shift slightly. “That’s...wonderful Izuku! I hope you become a knight!” His mom encouraged. Izuku grinned.

     “Me too.”

     His mom smiled. The rest of the dinner they ate in silence. Izuku felt relieved that his mom didn’t have any complaints on him being a knight. Tomorrow’s the big day. Izuku grinned. _I will become a knight!_


	2. Can he become a knight?

     By the time it was midnight, Izuku’s eyes were still wide open. He was too excited. _At dawn I’m going to try and become an elite knight. An elite knight! I can’t wait! How can anyone sleep when tomorrow is going to be the biggest day of your life?_ He let his thoughts run through his head as he restlessly rolled around in his bed. He leaned onto his stomach before yelping from the pain.

     “Right. That still hurts.” He muttered. Izuku got up from his bed and took out a tattered wooden sword from under his bed. Scorch marks scarred the practice sword, from another encounter with Bakugou. Izuku’s thoughts went to Bakugou.

_I know that Bakugou’s going to become one of the best of the elite knights without even trying. I wonder if I manage get in, will Kacchan stop bullying me? Maybe he’ll actually care about me and then we could-_

     Izuku slapped himself. _That’s never going to happen. Stupid._

     He gripped the sword even harder as he slashed at the air restlessly. Even as he grew tired, he exerted himself until he felt like he was going to collapse. He took a glance outside his window, to see the crack of dawn. The pink cotton candy clouds drew by, highlighting the soft orange that emitted from the sun. The sky slowly started to brighten up, the dark night to a bright clear day. In the distance, Izuku watched as a golden carriage in the distance as it approach his hous- _Wait a second, a carriage?! Crap! I didn’t sleep at all last night!_

     He quickly changed into his casual clothes and attempted to brush his unruly green curls. He took a quick glance in the mirror. Underneath his wide eyes were bags. His pale-as-a-ghost skin didn’t help it either. His face looked like it belonged to a zombie.

    _Oh my god, I look terrible._ Izuku rushed outside where the golden carriage awaited him. He frantically climbed in, his nerves jumpy. The driver stared at him before shrugging and driving off. Izuku looked outside the entire ride, admiring as the dirt roads became polished stone. Soon the palace came into view. It’s broad walls stretched across the horizon line. Despite the grand view, Izuku could barely peel his eyes open. Soon, the ride came to an end. He drowsily jumped out of the golden carriage and ran to the castle.

     One thing Izuku noticed immediately were all the brawny men around him who carried themselves with pride, unlike Izuku, who’s steps were lousy and frantic. They all wore metal armor that clanged loudly and carried weapons varying from an axe to a bow and arrow. Izuku felt himself shrink. _I didn’t even bring a weapon! How am I going to survive this test? Now that I think about this test, what is it going to be about specifically?_

     Izuku started mumbling subconsciously, and before he even knew it, he felt himself trip on air.

     Izuku flinched and prepared for impact. _This is it....I’m going to face plant and it’s going to be embarrassing and then everyone is going to laugh at you_ -After a couple of seconds of not face planting into the dirty ground, he opened his eyes. He looked at the ground which he was floating above- _Wait how is that even possible?!_

     He heard the nervous laugh of a girl. He turned his head to her. She had brown hair and eyes that glittered brightly. If Izuku wasn’t into guys, he might’ve fallen for her.

     “Are you alright?” She asked, concerned. He squirmed around in mid-air, panicked. Izuku was extremely confused how he managed to defy the laws of physics.

_How the hell am I defying gravity? That’s literally impossible....Wait. Is this a quirk? She has a quirk?_

     The girl helped him down. She smiled and clasped her hands together. “It’s my quirk,” she explained. “Sorry for using it without asking you first! But I mean, it’d be bad luck if you fell before the knight trials, right?” Izuku could only stare at her.

     “Aren’t you nervous? I can’t tell if I’m nervous or excited, but either way I hope I become a knight!” She smiled.

     Izuku continued to stare until he realized she just asked him a question. “A-Uh-Uhm-I-“ Izuku stuttered.

     “Let’s all do our best! Good luck on the test! I hope I see ya later!” The girl left before Izuku could form any coherent words.

_Her quirk allows her to float things in mid-air. Maybe it’s a levitation quirk-no if that were true, I would have felt a force on me in mid-air. Perhaps it’s a quirk that allows her to manipulate the gravity of objects and she made his weight equivalent to the weight of air. But how is it activated? Quirks, in general, are rare, so is she some sort of royalty or a really well known idol’s daughter? No-her clothes looked like an average civilian’s clothes, and she doesn’t share any resemblance with any idol I recognize. Is she like Kacchan? Did her quirk materialize from a family with no quirks like him? I didn’t know there was anyone else like Kacc-_

     “Stop muttering and get out of my fucking way, Deku.” Kacchan’s voice rang. _I didn’t realize I was muttering...._ Izuku turned to face him.

     “S-Sorry K-Kacchan! I-Um-Let’s do our best!” Kacchan looked up and down at him. Izuku averted his eyes as he felt his face get hot from the gaze.

     “You look like shit.” He said, walking away.

     Izuku didn’t know what else to do, so he walked into the entrance of the castle. Quartz pillars lined the walls, and as he walked further into the building, the designs morphed into intricate paintings of All Might’s past. Izuku looked at all the beaming pictures.

    _It’s so beautiful!_ Izuku thought. The people surrounding him stared at him. _Did I mutter again? I should stop that......_

     Soon, the crowd of people went silent. Izuku looked up. A man with slick blonde hair that seemed to defy gravity stood in front of the crowd. He wore shades the color gold. His smile grew from ear to ear. Izuku recognized him immediately. _Present Mic?!_

     “Everyone say ‘Hey’!” He shouted. Silence. “What a lively crowd.” He chuckled nervously.

     He cleared his throat. “Anyways, for the trials, we will mainly be focusing on defense. You’ll defend against multiple training knights, and as long as they don’t get a hit on you, you’ll pass. The last twenty unharmed people will become a part of the elite knights.” Izuku gulped. _Everyone looks so confident...How am I supposed to pass this? How am I going to become a knight when I can’t even protect myself?_

     “One last thing. No armor or weapons are allowed.” Everyone groaned. “So, who’s ready?!” Silence. Present Mic put his hand on his neck wearing a sheepish expression and walked off.

     Izuku scanned the crowd for Kacchan. _I wonder what he thinks about the test._

**—————**

     Katsuki honestly thought the test was bullshit. _Just avoid getting hit by some stupid trainees? What a fucking copout!_ He thought King Toshinori would at least make this test more challenging. Needless to say, he wasn’t worried at all. Hell, he could probably pass this shitty test without even using his quirk!

     He felt Deku’s eyes boring into him. He turned around and gave him an intimidating stare. His palms crackled threateningly. Deku almost tripped on himself, his face turning into a tomato. He looked away from Katsuki.

  _One thing’s for certain, stupid Deku isn’t going to make it._

  
**—————**

     Izuku averted Kacchan’s gaze as soon as he made eye contact. The floor seems very interesting right—

     “Okay! Is everyone ready?!” A voice boomed. Izuku looked up to see himself at the end of the crowd, where countless knights in gleaming metal armor stood. Izuku tried to run to the front of the crowd, but everyone shoved him back. He tried to strategize.

_Think, Izuku! Think! They’re all equipped with rapiers. Rapiers are often used as a thrusting weapon...the way King Toshinori would fight except he used a special broadsword made specifically for him. Primary offense. Our goal is to not get hit, so fighting isn’t necessary. The best course of action would be to run away....but.....I can’t do that. I could sneak up behind them with my small body and take their weapons away from them! But we aren’t allowed to use weapons, so I could have to drop the weapon to not get disqualified. Then they could simply pick it back up! Izuku’s head strained. No ideas would come to mind at least, ideas that he could do himself._

_Wait...._

_Did they ever say we couldn’t team up or truce with someone? Maybe that brown haired girl would be a good choice; she could use her quirk to float me away from danger....but then what about herself.....? Perhaps I can take a painting from the wall and she could float the painting so we could we float above together? That’s the only plan I have.....where is she?_

     The knights charged in his direction at full force while he constructed a plan. Luckily, there were brave people who decided to charge at the knights themselves. Or maybe they were dumb enough to not realize the objective of the test was to not get hurt. Izuku didn’t know. Most of the people who charged at them were down in mere seconds, receiving minor attacks that were enough to disqualify them. Of course, there was one person who was actually beating the knights.

      _Kacchan..._

     Izuku shook his head. _He can’t be focused on him right now. Where’s that girl from before?_

     Suddenly, he felt fatigue wash over him and his injuries seemed to ache more. _Of course, I didn’t get any sl....eep...last night... but I have to do this...!_

     Izuku persevered. _I can’t fail when I have the chance to win this...!_ With half-lidded eyes, he continued searching. Each step he took, it seemed the world grew darker. His body ached in pain. He needed to lie down. He needed to sleep!

      _N-No! I can’t....sleep....._ Izuku didn’t notice the knight standing behind him, raising his rapier. Izuku fell to the ground, finally giving into the darkness.

**—————**

     It’s dark. He couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t feel anything. His limbs were frozen in place, and it wouldn’t move when he willed them to. His own body was cloaked in the darkness. It was empty. He doesn’t exist. Nothing exists. No one exists except...

      _Kacchan?_ The blond haired boy stood in front of him, back turned. He could see him very clearly. He wore a tight black shirt that showed every bump and curve on his torso and low hanging pants.

      _Kacchan!_ He wanted to shout. _Where am I? What are you doing here? Who....am....I?_

     The boy didn’t move. He was still as a statue. Meanwhile, ( _What was my name...?_ ) could finally move his right arm. He reached out to grab Kacchan’s shoulder. His hand phased through Kacchan.

  _W-What?_

     He heard a scowl from Kacchan. His head did a 180-degree turn. He stared deep into his soul. His eyes were pure white with blood pouring out, staining his cheeks. “Get the fuck off me, Deku!”

     He-Deku-felt Kacchan give him a shove. He stumbled and fell.

**_He’s falling._ **

**_He’s falling._ **

**_He’s falling._ **

**_He’s—_ **

caught by a mysterious figure. His face and body were obscured by the shadow. Except—Deku sees two colors. Red and white. He leaned comfortingly into the red and white man. He feels comfort. He feels—

     “All of his wounds should be treated,” A voice interrupted. Izuku opened his eyes, staring at blinding light. _What was I dreaming about?_

     “Though, he had injuries before the fight even began. That’s probably why he collapsed on the ground from a minor scratch. I believe he was also sleep deprived. Perhaps he couldn’t sleep?” The voice belonged to a nurse talking to someone in the room.

     “I suppose that would make more sense.” A familiar voice spoke. Izuku recognized the voice but he got a headache trying to put the voice to a name.

     “Your Majesty, you don’t have to stay here until the boy recovers,” the nurse suggested.

     “No, I insist. If this poor boy got himself injured more than a scratch because of my test, then I would never forgive myself.”

     “O-Oh! Of course, Your Highness! I’ll see myself out now.” She nervously left the room. Izuku stared at the big figure. _Is that-_

     “Oh! You’re awake!” King Toshinori’s voice boomed.

_King Toshinori?! King of All Might?! He’s in the same room as me!_

     Izuku gaped at the king. He stared at him for too long before he realized that Toshinori was waiting for a response.

     “Y-Your majesty! W-Why are y-you here!” Izuku barely got the words out his mouth. He had so many questions for the king.

     “You collapsed! I couldn’t just leave you on the ground! Not to mention, your injuries on your head and stomach! Of course I had to get someone to heal you up!” He put on a big smile. “Now that you’re awake, you can go home now! Well, I’m off now!”

     “Wait!” Izuku shouted, but by then, the King already sprinted out the room. He got off the bed and raced towards Toshinori. He noticed the new bandages on his stomach and his hospital gown, but he continued forward. He trailed the King to his throne room. He opened the large door with all the strength he could muster. He saw the king of All Might standing in the middle of the room.

     “K-Kid! You’re back!” He said, surprised. Izuku limped over to the king. He did a little bow before speaking.

     “I-I don’t remember what h-happened,” Izuku started. “W-What happened during the test?”

     Toshinori looked at Izuku sheepishly. He put his hand on the back of his neck. “Well, according to one of the knights, he scratched you with his rapier, and then you just collapsed.” Izuku’s eyes widened. Does that mean...

     The king continued. “Afterwards, he brought you to me and I took you to the hospital inside the castle.”

     Izuku looked to the ground. Oh.

     “Did I-Did I fail the test?” Izuku asked. He already knew the answer.

     “I’m afraid so, my boy.”

     Izuku looked at the King.

     “C-Can I somehow redo-“ Izuku started.

     “I’m sorry, but,” The King of All Might cut him off. He looks Izuku in the eye.

**“You can’t become a knight.”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So! The knight trials! 
> 
> First of all, King Toshinori gave the knights in training rapiers and told them to ONLY scratch a person. He’d feel really bad if he had someone get more injured than something the size of a cat scratch. Also he’d give that specific knight in training a good scolding and a cleaning punishment if they hurt someone more than that. Rip the knight who got Izuku out.
> 
> OKAY! The reason why it was tailored more towards defense rather than destroying a bunch of robots is because the “elite knights”’ main job is to protect the castle; more specifically King Toshinori, not destroy some villains.
> 
> Also! The elite knights weren’t going to JUST be chosen based on wether you survived. That part, was a clever deception on King Toshinori’s part. Toshinori was actually watching them from above and analyzing who’d be best for the job; whether it was strength wise or intellect wise, he would’ve actually hand picked them! Of course, a lot of the 20 people who survived till the end would be selected because it takes skill to make it that far, but he’s not going to make someone who just let other people deal with their battles for them become one of the knights.
> 
> On the contrary, King Toshinori was looking for someone who’d sacrifice themselves for someone else whenever they were in danger. Like, for example, if Izuku got himself injured while protecting Uraraka, then Izuku would be a prime candidate for the Elite Knights. This also applies for the people who brought people out of danger, for whatever reason, even if the person saving the other person didn’t get scratched.
> 
> King Toshinori would definitely not select someone who pushed others to get hurt! (*Cough* the people who pushed Izuku to the back with the knights *cough*) Luckily, Bakugou was too busy fighting the knights to push anyone towards the knights and eliminate them.
> 
> One more thing, the reason why he decided to put flyers to get 20 random people to become his knights instead of elect 20 knights he already had was because......
> 
> He doesn’t want to be secluded from his country. Sounds weird huh? He wants to get more involved with his towns folk instead of just dealing with people who were sheltered and stay in the castle all day. 
> 
> Now if you’re wondering, “Won’t that give people from who want to kill King Toshinori, the opportunity to join a team of people close to him everyday? Isn’t that just an opening to get himself killed?
> 
> To that I say: you’re a smartass. And I love your way of thinking. 
> 
> Well, I guess you can say the entire “get 20 elite knights from the townsfolk” wasn’t ENTIRELY Toshinori’s idea...
> 
> that’s all I’m willing to say!
> 
> Anyways, I hope you’ll enjoy reading this as much as I enjoy writing this! :D


	3. Izuku can’t be a knight?

     Izuku lost track of the days he spent in his room. He didn’t have the energy in him to do anything. Ever since King Toshinori told him he couldn’t pursue his dreams, it was like his reality just came crashing down on him.

     It really hurt. It felt like a stab in his chest. It honestly hurt more than each time Kacchan bullied him for wanting to be a knight. It hurt more than each time he beat Izuku to the ground. Maybe that was because he looked up to King Toshinori longer than he had his stupid crush on Kacchan. Or was it that someone who wasn’t as intimidating as Kacchan told him he couldn’t pursue his dreams. Izuku didn’t know.

     His mom—his mom didn’t say anything to him after he came home from the trials. She nodded in understanding, knowing he needed the space to do so. She came in periodically to give him his food. The first few times she came, she tried to make conversation with him.

     “Izuku! Did you hear that Katsuki became one of the knights! I’m sure Mitsuki is so proud of her son right now!” She thoughtfully said to her son.

     Izuku stared at his mom. He didn’t say anything to her. He tried his best to smile for his mom.

     “I....made Katsudon again! I hope you like it!” Silence. She placed the plate of food on the ground and left.

     After a while, she stopping trying to speak to him when she brought in his food. Izuku knew she was worried about him, but he’s thankful that she didn’t pry. Izuku couldn’t have asked for a better mom.

     Izuku wanted to cry again, but his eyes were already dry from crying beforehand. He stared at his window, hoping that would make him feel better.

    _I wonder how Kacchan is doing, being an elite knight and all. I’m sure he’s enjoying it. I bet he’d think I’m even weaker than he thought, because I’m just lying around._

      _Knock. Knock._ Izuku knew what that meant. The door opened to reveal his mom, holding a plate of food. She smiled weakly at Izuku. He stared back. He wish he had the will to smile back, but he couldn’t manage it. She placed the food on the ground.

     As his mom leaned over to the door frame, she muttered someone Izuku could barely hear.

     “Izuku, w-we need to talk.”

 

—————

 

     Inko Midoriya was worried about her son. That much wasn’t a surprise. In fact, she’d been worried ever since Izuku turned four. _When he came home with new bruises every day._ She thought, sadly.

     It was definitely worrisome the first couple times when Izuku came to her with these injures. She trusted her son’s excuses the first few times that he said them. Although, naturally, after so many injuries, she got suspicious.

     One day, she decided to watch Izuku one day while he was walking home. What she witnessed shocked her to her very core. That day, she learned that those bruises were, in fact, from Katsuki Bakugou and the kids that followed him around. It was horrible watching his son get beat up by his own childhood friend!

     She had questioned him after he got home, to which he replied with another weak excuse. It broke Inko’s heart knowing that her son had been lying to her.

     Inko tried confronting Mitsuki about the situation. Mitsuki didn’t believe her. She tried to talk to his teacher. The teacher told her to leave. It seemed no one would believe her. And the people who did quickly dismissed it, like it was no big deal that her son was getting constantly bullied.

     So, she cries herself to sleep, worrying about her darling Izuku. She loses sleep. Dark circles become more prominent under her eyes. She eats more. She gains weight. She gets sick more often. All these things happen while her son continues to get beat up for seemingly no reason.

     Eventually, Izuku didn’t even try to make any more excuses. He just went to his room and stayed there until dinner. She doesn’t know what hurts more.

     So when Izuku came home after his knight test and doesn’t even look at his own mom, she knew what it meant. She gave him the space he needed. Soon he’ll come out for dinner....right?

     But never in all the years of Izuku’s bullying, has he ever not left his room for dinner. That’s when she started to worry even more. She walked to his room. A muffled sound came through the door.

      _Is that...crying?_ Inko realized. _Izuku..._

     She walked away from his room. She grabbed his plate of food from the kitchen. She knocked on his door.

      _Silence._ She let herself in.

     “Izuku...are you okay?” She asked while placing the food on the ground.

     “H-How was the knight test?” She already knew the answer to her question. He stared at her. She changed the topic.

     “I have some leftover Katsudon from last night’s dinner!”

     He grimly smiled. Inko’s heart couldn’t take it. She came over to the bed and cradled Izuku. _Nothing._

     She couldn’t take the emptiness that replaced her usually enthusiastic son. She kissed him on the cheek before leaving the room.

     The moment she left the room, tears rolled down her cheeks. _I’m such a horrible mother._

 

—————

 

     Inko stared down at some paperwork with a unique Endeavor seal on the top right hand corner. On the top of the page, it read,

  _‘Application for Personal Servant’._

     Inko worked day and night to get and fill out this application for him. She knows that Izuku won’t be happy where he is now, lying in his room all day. So, why not start over?

     Inko knows she can’t take care of Izuku any longer. This way, he’ll work and live in a palace, with plenty of opportunities to make new friends and start over from scratch. That’s what she hopes will happen. Whatever the case, she needs to tell Izuku about this.

  _I hope Izuku will be okay with this._

 

—————

 

     “Pack your things, y-you’re moving to Endeavor.” His mom finally said after taking in a deep breath.

     “What? Why?” Izuku asked his mom, finally speaking to her, the first time in days.

     “I-I got you a job in Endeavor,” she looked Izuku in the eyes. “I think that’s what’s best for right now.” Izuku froze at her words. It took a while before he processed what his mom said.

     “B-But I don’t want to move!” Izuku complained. His mom looked at him with sad eyes, tears threatening to spill.

     “I love you so much Izuku...this is for the best.” she cried. She hugged Izuku, squeezing so tight that he could barely breathe. Izuku looked at his mom confused, but he melted into the hug.

     “I-I love you too, mom.” Izuku said. She left the room soon after that. Izuku started to pack his things. A thought repeated in his head, over and over again.

     He was going to Endeavor.

 

—————

 

     As soon as Izuku had all of his clothes packed up in his bag, he went over to his mom, who was sitting at the dining table, eating her food.

     “M-Mom? Can I ask you something?”

     She looked up at Izuku. “What is it?”

     “What job did you get me in Endeavor?” He asked.

     “Well,” she started. “After doing some paperwork, and got you a job as a manservant to the crown prince of Endeavor.”

     Izuku gaped. A servant....of a prince? He felt his head spinning. “H-How did you get that job for me?!”

     “That’s my little secret,” she smiled.

     “Mom, if you have connections with a royal family-“ Izuku started.

     “I guess I can say that I have a friend who works at the castle!” She told Izuku. “It did take a lot of convincing from both me and her before I even got the application!”

     Izuku smiled at his mom.

     “Thanks mom.”

 

—————

 

     A day after his mom told him the news, he waved goodbye to his mom as he rode off in another carriage.

_Kinda reminds me of the carriage that brought me to the castle...._

     Izuku thought, resigned. He watched his house grow smaller and further away from him. Soon, the familiar part of his town was replaced by unknown streets, stocked full with loud merchants and children. Despite all the noise, Izuku was honestly excited. _I’m going to Endeavor! A whole new country!_

     As hours passed, Izuku only grew more anxious. As the sun set, the moon rose with its comforting light. Izuku felt his eyes grow heavy and before he’d even realized it, he fell asleep.

 

—————

  
     Izuku was at a beach. A young Kacchan stood next to him, flashing a confident grin. The neighbor kids surrounded him, awing everything Kacchan did. He looked at his reflection in the ocean. He saw a four-year old version of himself staring back.

      _W-What?_

     “Izuku!” Kacchan called. “Watch me!” Izuku’s head snapped up to see him. He threw a pebble. With all his strength, he launched it out towards the ocean. It skipped seven times. He looked back at Izuku, who was gaping at Kacchan.

     His spiky blonde hair shined in the sunlight. His fearless smile made Izuku smile as well. Izuku thought he looked amazing.

     “Kacchan! How many times did your pebble skip?” A kid asked.

     “Seven!” He boasted.

     Izuku clapped. “Wow! You’re so awesome Kacchan! I wish I could be just like you!”

     The scene shifted into a familiar forest. Kacchan grew about an inch taller. He held himself with even more confidence (Was that even possible?), parading around as Izuku trailed close behind. He carried a butterfly net in hand, while Izuku carried both of their lunches.

     Izuku blushed. “You’re so lucky Kacchan! Your quirk is so cool! I hope I can get mine soon!”

     Kacchan turned to Izuku. “Well, no matter what quirk you’ll get, you’ll never beat me!”

     Izuku laughed. “Then I’ll be second best, only to you Kacchan!”

     Kacchan turned back. It was his turn to blush. His gaze was earnest, looking directly at Izuku. He quickly turned away, hiding his face from Izuku.

     The scene changed again. There was a river with the log hanging over it.

     Kacchan marched forward on the log, his hand reaching out and sparking up. He sang of becoming the greatest knight of all time. The neighborhood kids followed him with glee. Izuku knows what’s about to happen.

    _Kacchan’s going to-!_

     The little boy slipped off the log and fell into the river. Izuku ran to his aid as quick as possible.

     “Are you alright? Can you stand?” Izuku asked him, extending his hand. “I-It would’ve been bad if you hit your head! Here, let me-“ He grabbed Kacchan’s hand and started to walk out of the river. Kacchan tugged away from his grip.

     Izuku turned around and looked at him. His crimson eyes were filled with rage. Izuku squirmed. He never seen him look that mad. Izuku’s body shook nervously. Kacchan approached him, his hands threateningly sparkling. Izuku flinched. The moment he opened his eyes again, he saw fourteen-year old Kacchan glaring at his face with those mean eyes. He punched Izuku.

     Izuku screamed. The scene changed to the outside of the school. Kacchan grabbed his neck collar and held his weak body up.

     “Stupid fucking Deku.” He remarked. He dropped Izuku onto the ground. He grumbled and stomped away. Izuku felt like crying. He felt like dying. What was this feeling of hopelessness and dread?

     Why did it always haunt him in his dreams?

      _Dreaming? Am I dreami-_

     Izuku awoke to a startling pause in the carriage. He looked around, confused on why they stopped, when outside, he saw a grand castle in front of him.

      _Woah._ No words could truly describe how it looked. It was so tall, Izuku could hardly see the top. It was so grand, it made All Might’s castle seem mediocre in comparison.

     Application in hand, Izuku walked in the front gates. The guards standing by took notice of him.

     “Who wishes admittance inside the castle?” They sternly asked, not glancing at the boy.

     “M-Midoriya Izuku!”

     “What is your reason of coming?”

     Izuku showed them the application. They scanned it, noticing the seal on the top. They let him in.

     Immediately after entering the castle, a petite girl with long teal hair greeted him.

     “Hello, you must be Midoriya Izuku.” Her voice croaked. “I’m Asui Tsuyu, but you can call me Tsuyu.” She smiled.

     “I’ll take you around the castle.” She turned around, and started to walk away. Izuku noticed her hair was tied into a ribbon at the bottom. _I wonder how she does her hair like that. It’s really cute!_

     Izuku trailed along as she showed him where certain places were.

     “Over to your right is the kitchen, and the restrooms are to the left.” She instructed. Izuku nodded politely. Soon they made it to a long hallway without any doors. Izuku kept his head down, anticipating seeing the royal family.

     “So where are you from?” She asked abruptly.

     He looked up to see her looking at him curiously.

     “I-I’m from All Might.” He answered.

     “That’s weird.”

     “How is it weird?”

     “I don’t get why they’d get someone all the way from All Might to watch over someone from Endeavor.” She responded. “Makes no sense.”

     Izuku thought for a moment.

  _It does seem weird that I-out of all people-got the chance to become the personal servant of a crown prince. It wasn’t even a second-born! It seems too...trusting? I don’t get it-_

     “Midoriya, stop that,” she interrupted. Izuku stopped muttering.

     “I-Ah-Um-Sorry Asui!” He stuttered. “I-It’s just a bad habit.”

     “Call me Tsuyu.” She told him.

     “I’m also curious though,” she started again. “How’d you get the job?”

     “Well, my mom got it for me. The specifics...I think she mentioned a friend or something, but I don’t know.”

     “You’re lucky your mom takes care of you.” She says.

     Izuku thought of his mom.

     “Yeah, I know. I miss her already.” Izuku said.

     “I had to get this job because I had to take care of my family, and my family needed money. I’ve always taken care of my siblings up until recently. I wonder how they are now.”

     “I’m sure they love and miss you right now,” Izuku started. “From what I can tell, you speak what’s on your mind, but your kind and reliable!” And it was true, Izuku thought that she was kind and reliable. She gave him a big smile in return.

     “Actually, a couple weeks back, the King of All Might sent out flyers, asking for people to come to his castle to test themselves to try and become one of the elite knights.” Izuku continued. “I tried doing it, obviously. Who would pass up an opportunity like that? Besides it was my biggest dream to become a knight. But, you can tell it didn’t go well for me. Ended up collapsing on the ground out of exhaustion.” He laughed sheepishly.

     He didn’t tell her of King Toshinori crushing his dream. He didn’t feel ready to talk about that.

     “Everyone dreams about becoming a knight,” she said. “I certainly have. Doesn’t mean we all get to become one though. It sucks too. But at least I have friends that are like me.”

     Izuku smiled. That was a new way to think about it.

     “I guess we have a lot more in common than I thought.” Izuku noted. She hums in agreement.

     They both stopped at an over-sized golden door.

     “And this is the throne room. The King and Prince will be awaiting you inside.” Tsuyu told Izuku. “That’s pretty much it. I had a nice time talking with you, Izuku-Chan.”

     “You too.” He replied.

     And like that, she parted ways with him. Izuku stared at the door that separated him and the throne room. This is it. He took a deep breath. He opened the grand door, revealing the throne room inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH BLESS INKO’S SOUL I LOVE HER
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> also rip Izuku
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> we’re saying goodbye to Bakugou’s POV for now


	4. Woah is that the King and Prince?

     Immediately after opening the throne room, a blast of heat hit Izuku. He stumbled back, grabbing the door to regain his balance. He looked up to see the source of the heat, guards surrounding either side of the heat source.

     A large man sat upon a equally large throne. On his head was a large golden crown. He noticed flames coming out of his outfit (Izuku could see all his muscles!) and fire where his beard would be.

      _That....explains the heat._ Izuku thought. _So intimidating!_

     “You must be...Midoriya Izuku?” The stout man asked. Izuku nodded vigorously.

     “As you must know, I’m King Enji Todoroki,” He announced, holding his head high with pride. _(Izuku didn’t have the slightest clue who he was.)_ “And this is my prized possession, Shouto.” The King gestured to the boy next to him.

     Izuku shuddered. _His....possession?_ He averted his eyes from the flame king over to the crown prince.

     He had short red and white hair, split equally down the middle. He wore an crown, identical to his father, indicating that he was the crown prince. Unlike the king, he wore a white collared outfit, with golden plating. Izuku stared at the boy.

      _He’s really....handsome_. Izuku admired. Izuku noticed a scorching mark on the boy’s left eye. He didn’t mention it. The prince stared back with cold eyes (unlike the king), leaving a strange gut feeling in Izuku.

     They both looked at Izuku expectingly. Izuku realized they were waiting for a response.

     “Oh! W-What a pleasure i-it is to meet you King-” Izuku stammered. _(What was his name again?)_ “Todoroski!” He bowed.

     The king’s face contorted in burning rage; his nostrils flaring, and his eyes flashing.

     “What did you just call me.” He stood up, his body overshadowing Izuku’s. Izuku widen his eyes as he realized his mistake.

     “I-I’m so sorry, Your Majesty! It was a slip of the tongue! I did not mean to disgrace your name, King Todoroki!” Izuku stammered. The King looked over to his knight.

     “I want him out of my sight and executed.” He stated, not looking at Izuku.

     “Yes, Your Highness.” The guards started to approach Izuku. Izuku panicked.

    _I’m going to die! Why did I have to forget his name! I’m so sorry mom! And Kacchan, I lo-_

     “Father.” A voice spoke. Izuku looked up to see the prince standing up. “I’ll take care of him.” He said.

     King Todoroki looked over at his son. After a fit of bursting anger, he replied.

     “Fine. Do whatever you wish with him,” He looked at Izuku with disgust. “He’s your manservant, after all.”  
  
     Izuku could’ve cried at that exact moment. Instead, he just continued to watch.

     “I have business to attend to,” The King announced. “I suggest you do the same, Shouto.” He tells the prince, before leaving the throne room.  
  
     After the door shut, The Prince sat down, his eyes focused at Izuku. Izuku didn’t know what to say, so he kept quiet.

     And they did just that, for what left like an eternity. The boy with the split hair colors stared at his newly acquired manservant, while Izuku averted his gaze, preferring to look at the ground than the Prince’s expecting gaze. At moments, Izuku would look up to see the Prince. They could barely maintain eye contact for a couple of seconds before Izuku stared back at the ground.

     After a while, the Prince got up and started to leave the room. Izuku snapped out of his frozen state, and started to follow him outside. He forced himself to speak.

     “T-Thank you for saving me, Prince Todoroki,” Izuku started. “I don’t know how I can repay-“

     “Please refrain from speaking to me.” The Prince coldly turned around to face Izuku. His tone felt intimidating. _(Izuku has dealt with intimidating before with Kacchan, but this was...different. While Kacchan overpowered him and hurt him, the Prince’s intimidation was more cold and indirect. A cold glare from the Prince was probably enough to make him cower.)_

     Up close, Izuku could see his heterochromatic eyes, his right eye was a dull gray, while his left eye was an ocean blue. It seemed looking into his left eye told a story. Behind the gorgeous exterior, was a hint of sadness and abuse.

     Izuku averted his gaze from his beautiful eyes to his red scar on his face. His scar might’ve been a turn off for most people, but seeing it up close, Izuku couldn’t help but notice the different shades of red on his scar.

    Todoroki stared at him, his face remaining expressionless. He turned away, leaving Izuku with redden cheeks.

     Izuku trailed Todoroki down the long corridors, until they reached another golden door, although not quite as grand as the throne room door. Izuku walked toward the door, and started to open the door-

     “I’ll open it.” Todoroki said. Izuku backed off and let him open the door. Upon Todoroki opening the door, he saw a room the size of his own house. The walls were lined with swords and armor, along with writings Izuku couldn’t read. There was a large fireplace with a burning fire on his left. The bed looked so comfortable and soft, and the bed frame was had many intricate designs etched into it. In the furthest corner from Izuku, was a plain desk. On the desk was a pen and paper, and an oil lamp.

     The best sight out of the entire room, was the glass pane dead ahead of him. The glass was stained several different colors, all mixing together in harmony. The morning sun shone through the paned glass, reflecting its color onto the ground.

     Izuku stared in awe of the room.  
_It’s so-(He couldn’t find the right word to describe the place)_

     Todoroki gestured to a smaller door near Izuku. Izuku assumed it was where he was going to stay. As Izuku walked to his room, he muttered something to Todoroki.

     “Thank you.” He said, under his breath. He doesn’t think Todoroki heard him. He opens the door to his room and goes inside.

—————

      _What?_ Shouto thinks as Midoriya goes inside his room. _Thank you? But why?_

     He shook his head. His father assigned him some paperwork to do, and he’s sure to get himself into some trouble if he didn’t complete it by tonight. _(It is his father who made him do it, and as much as Shouto would love to rebel against his father and throw it in the fireplace, he knows he’d have to deal with his father’s aggravating shouting later if he didn’t, and he was not in the mood for that.)_

     He shouldn’t get distracted by whatever his personal servant says. _It doesn’t matter...right?_ He walked over to his sat down on his desk to work on the paperwork, trying to distract himself from those sparkling green eyes.

—————

     Izuku’s room in comparison to Todoroki’s room was...mediocre. It had a small bed, a normal drawer, a mirror; pretty much everything essential to a room. Another servant was in the process of going through all of his things in his drawers when he walked in.

     She had unusually pink skin, and equally pink hair. Turning to meet Izuku’s eyes, he realized she had blacked out scleras and golden irises. She smiled wide.

     “You must be Midoriya!” She waved. “Nice to meet ya!” She put down the items she was placing in his room and jumped up to give him a tight hug. Izuku stood in place, not knowing what to do with his arms.

     “H-Hi!” He replied. “Uh, what are you doing with my stuff?”

     Her eyes widened. “Oh! This probably looks bad! I was assigned to move all your things in your room!”

      _That...makes a lot more sense._ Izuku thought to himself. She went back to moving his stuff neatly.

     Izuku sat on the bed for a moment, watching her movements as she continued unpacking. _I should help her!_

     So he did just that. He walked over to where Ashido was, and started to help unpack his clothes with her. She paused for a moment, but smiled even wider as they both unpacked his things.

     “You’re helping me?” She asked.

     Izuku kept his eyes focused on unpacking. “Yeah. Is there anything wrong with that?”

     “No! Not at all! It’s just no one really volunteers to help unpack stuff,” she says.

     Izuku chuckled. “If I’m going to become a servant, wouldn’t it make sense if I, at least, helped unpacking?”

     She laughed. “That _is_ true!”

     They continued talking, the topic jumping from their days to the royal family.

     “I never got personally introduced to the royal family. Lucky!”

     “I guess I am!” Izuku said. “But they are really..what’s the word..intimidating!”

     “Yeah! The first time I saw King Todoroki while I was working, he was yelling at someone about something, and really loudly too,” Ashido said, while casually sifting through his pants drawer. “He has this,” she waves her arms to exaggerate. “Scary vibe about him.”

     Izuku nodded. That was definitely true.

     He sheepishly laughed. “Yeah, I accidentally said his name wrong. If it weren’t for Prince Todoroki, I would be executed right now!”

     Her eyes widened comically. “Executed? Geez! That’s such a big punishment for mispronouncing his name!” She paused for another second, processing his statement.

    “Wait a minute...Prince Todoroki saved you? As in the Crown Prince?!”

    “Y-Yeah. The Crown Prince Todoroki.”

     Ashido gaped. “You must be something if a prince saved your life! Maybe he likes you! You are really cute~!”

     Izuku felt his cheeks redden.

     “W-What! T-There’s n-no way that’s it! He probably d-doesn’t want anyone to die!” Izuku cried in exasperation. Izuku threw out more excuses, stuttering through each one, while Ashido laughed at his embarrassed state.

     “I’m just teasing!” She laughed.

     Eventually, after about fifteen minutes, they were done packing. “Thanks for helping me pack your stuff!” She said, enthusiastically.

     “No problem.” Ashido gave Izuku another tight hug. “Bye!”

     Izuku watched Ashido walk out the room. She almost seemed like she was skipping. He smiled. When she closed the door, Izuku resolved to lying on the bed. He put his hands over his head and sighed.

     “Today has been a long day.” He said to himself. “But at least a made a couple of new friends!” He smiled. His thoughts went to Prince Todoroki.

     “Although...I want to become friends with the Prince,” he continued. “I have a feeling that there’s more to him than the cold front he’s showing me.”

     He sat up on the bed and looked at himself from the mirror. He stared deep into his own emerald eyes.

     “I’m going to become friends with Prince Todoroki! Whether he likes it or not!” He declared.

—————

     “Wake up.” A voice croaked.

     Izuku peeled his eyes open to the sight of Asui staring him down.

     “It’s time for orientation.” She told him.

     “Ori...entation...?” Izuku repeated sleepily. Looking out the window, he saw the sun barely starting to rise. _It’s so early...!_ Izuku got off the bed to stretch, while Asui remained standing, still as a statue.

     “Yeah. Did you not know about it?” She asked curiously.

     “..No...?” He grumbled, rubbing his eyes and checking himself in the mirror. His hair was a bird’s nest _(it always was)._ “Wha-s that?” He slurred.

     “It should’ve been on your application packet.” She said.

     Izuku chuckled sheepishly. “I only skimmed the application,” he avoided eye contact with the green haired girl, rubbing his neck awkwardly. “Can you tell me what’s it is?”

    Asui looked at Izuku, her frog-like  expression unchanged. “You have two weeks of training, before you can work as the Prince’s servant.”

 _Two weeks. That’s a relatively short amount of time..._ Izuku thought.

     She continued. “Some of the people working here have decided to take you on for orientation. Today, I will be your guide.”

     She turns her head away from Izuku, gesturing towards his unmade bed.

     “And the first thing you need to get used to, is getting up before the Prince.”

      _That....might take getting used to..._

     He groaned. “Yep, got it. I’ll get changed and meet you outside.”  
  
     Asui bowed slightly, graciously stepping out of his room.

—————

     Little did Izuku know, the curriculum of the orientation itself was the most difficult part of becoming a servant. That’s what Tsuyu thinks, and she says this from experience. The short curriculum turned her from an inexperienced and confused girl who only came to support her family, to one of the most hardworking servants in the castle.

     She also heard from the grapevine that many who got the job quit after their first day of orientation. Of course, there are plenty of servants in the castle to go around _(It is a royal castle, after all.)_ , but shes sure there would be way more people employed if the orientation wasn’t as strict as it was.  
  
     Tsuyu looks at Midoriya’s door. She thinks of his cute freckles and innocent eyes. It reminds Tsuyu of herself, the first time she came here. _Is he going to be prepared for this?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> w oA h it’s my boi Shouto!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> also I had originally planned for Ashido to be a part of the elite knights in All Might, but there needs to be an energetic character over in Endeavor, ya know? So her character just became another servant Izuku befriends! :D
> 
> oh my gosh I spent about an hour on the first scene because the big boi Endeavor (King Todoroki himself) is impossible to me to write for.


	5. Orientation!!!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orientation is hard......if you have Tsuyu as your mentor!

    Izuku took his time getting ready. He was still groggy after Asui unpleasantly waking him up, (He wasn’t much of a morning person) but as soon as he opened the door to greet Asui, she grabbed his wrist and started bolting down the hallway.

  
  
    “Ah-Asui! Ahm..! W-Where are we going?!” Izuku blurted.

  
  
    “The kitchen. We’re behind schedule.” She responded. “And call me Tsuyu.” Her grip tightened as she swerved to the right, Izuku barely managing to keep up with her quick paces. He squealed.

  
  
    The worst part was definitely the stairs. Izuku was more like dead-weight while As-Tsuyu raced down the stairs. Izuku tripped about twelve times while he was on the stairs, Asui having to pull him back up each time.

 

  
    As soon as they got to the kitchen, she let go of his hand. Izuku rubbed the area where she gripped his wrist, where it now slightly ached.

  
    “Do you see those plates over to your left?” She pointed to his left where two equally sized stacks were placed. They probably stacked as tall as his arms. “Carry all those to the Crown Prince’s room, using only your hands.”

  
  
    Izuku gaped. _How in the world was he supposed to do that?!_ He thought. He reluctantly picked up the stacks of plates in each of his hands. The weight of the plates were heavy than he anticipated, which caused him to drop them and fall backwards.

  
  
    Tsuyu looked at him with a look of sympathy. She lend a hand by helping pick up some of the plates, and placing them gently on the table. It was a miracle that none of them broke.

  
  
    She signaled for him to try again. Izuku looked at the dishes with a look of pure determination. I will get these plates to Prince Todoroki’s room! And in record time too! He held the plates, balancing them on his palms. He started to speed walk with the plates, Tsuyu trailing him close behind.

  
  
    He focused on not toppling the plates as he sped-walked to his room, navigating the large identical hallways. Luckily, he didn’t take any wrong turns and ended up at the Prince’s door. He placed the plates down, grinning in victory.

  
  
    “How did I do?” Izuku asked.

  
  
    She looked at him quizzically. “Well...not bad actually, for your first time. I’m impressed,” she said. “Although, we have to improve on the time. Now carry the plates back down so we can do the exercise again.”

  
  
     _Do the exercise.....again?!_ Izuku thought. He groaned, picking the plates up and heading back down.

  
  
    He lost count of how many times he carried those same plates to the Crown Prince’s room. Izuku was left panting and sore.

  
    “Let’s eat. We haven’t had breakfast. Then we’ll go on to the next exercise.” She informed him.

  
  
     _There’s more?!_ Izuku felt like he was about to faint.

  
  
    He leaned against a wall, sliding down onto the carpet ground.

  
  
    “I don’t think I can survive two weeks of this, Tsuyu!” Izuku complained.

  
  
    She chuckled, taking a seat right next to him. “That was just the warm up.”

  
  
    “What.” Izuku stared at the frog-like girl. “That was not a warmup.”

  
  
    She laughed again. “That’s how I felt the first time I did that exercise,” she sighed. “You get used to it pretty quick.”

 

    He groaned again. “I don’t know if the payoffs going to be worth it!”

 

    Tsuyu watched him with curious eyes. “It’s definitely worth it here. Minus the Royal Family, everyone’s super nice and welcoming.” She smiled.

    “Really?”

 

    She nodded. “There’s this one girl named Ashido, pink skin, black eyes with yellow irises, and she’s very energetic and easygoing. She’s friends with pretty much everyone in this castle.”

 

    “I know her!” Izuku exclaimed. “I helped her unpack my belongings!”

 

    “Who else?” She put her finger on her chin as she pondered. “There’s the people in Prince Todoroki’s personal guard...like Kaminari. He’s also really welcoming and cheerful! And Jirou...she’s actually the leader of the personal guard! I also knew a girl going by Hagakure...though I didn’t know too much about her. She seems a bit optimistic for shopping, and she was probably the most loyal to King Todoroki, but that’s all I really know about her. Funny thing, she actually left to move to All Might a couple weeks back! It’s a coincidence that you came here while she moved to All Might, huh?”

 

    “Yeah,” He sighed.

  
    Izuku spent a minute recollecting his breath. They both sat in a comfortable silence, as many other servants passed by, giving them weird glances. Then a question came to mind.

  
  
    “Hey, what happened to Prince Todoroki’s previous personal servant?” He asked, curious.

  
    She tilted her head, deep in thought. “I don’t know the exact details, but I heard through the grapevine that they were executed by King Todoroki. A ruthless king, he is.”

  
  
    Executed...sounds like something King Todoroki would order. Izuku remembers the King ordering Izuku’s death. He shivers.

  
  
    But what shocks Izuku the most, was the fact that the staff of the castle themselves was bad mouthing the king.

  
    “You can talk about the King behind his back?” He questioned.

  
  
    “He’d probably off your head if he found out that you did, but pretty much everyone here does. You’d be surprised.”

  
      
    Izuku lets out a stifled gasp. “Wow. I’m surprised just hearing that.”

  
  
    She hums in agreement. She stares off into the distance. After a while, she stiffens, realizing she was supposed to be teaching him.

  
  
    “Oh! It’s time for the next exercise! I didn’t even realize-” She pulled Izuku up. Izuku groaned.

  
  
    “Oh god.” Izuku complained. Tsuyu tugs his sleeve, dragging him to his next location.

  
    “This next exercise won’t be physically taxing,” she reassured him. “Promise.”

  
  
    They walk down the hallways until they go inside a small wooden door, leading into a closet. A closet. Izuku was extremely confused.

 

  
    “Um...Tsuyu...I trust you and all...but why are we in a closet.” Izuku waited patiently as she went to get something.

  
  
    She came back into view, holding a pale large masculine mannequin that was two feet taller than herself. Izuku blushed.

  
  
    “I never got this training since I’m not a personal servant. Since you’re going to be a personal servant, you’re going to do personal stuff for the Prince, like for example, dress and undress him.” She looked towards the mannequin.

 

  Izuku blushed multiple shades of red. He put his hands on his face. _Dress...Prince Todoroki?!_

  
  
    She chuckled at his reaction. “And to avoid some awkward encounters, today we’re going to dress this mannequin.”

  
  
    Izuku looked down, hand still on his burning cheek.

  
  
    “We’ll start when you’re ready.” Tsuyu said, hesitantly.

  
  
    Izuku paused. He scanned the tall mannequin. “I-I got this,” he said. “I think.”

  
  
    He reluctantly walked over to Tsuyu, who gave him a soft white tunic, with some embroidered beads near the top. He slipped it onto the mannequin. Next was a cloak, which was easy to place onto the mannequin.

  
  
    Then, she gave him the pants. Izuku blushed. He gulped, and attempted to dress the dummy with the dress pants. Turns out, an inanimate object that looks like a human will not cooperate when you ask it to put their leg through the pant-hole. Tsuyu had to carry the dummy while Izuku slid the pants on. (While touching areas of the leg that Izuku didn’t want to touch.)

  
    By some sort of miracle, the pants stayed on. Izuku let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. The rest was it was easy, putting on little trinkets and bracelets.

  
  
    He finished by placing the boots on the figure. Then comes the part he was secretly dreading. Undressing.

  
    “I think you know what to do now.” Tsuyu gestured to the mannequin. Izuku looked at her, hoping she would let him off, so he didn’t have to do this.

  
  
    “You’re being dramatic. It’s just a mannequin.” She said. “I’ll take off the tunic for you.” She swiftly took off the tunic without hesitation.

  
  
    “Now,” she gestured to the pants. “It’s your turn.”

  
  
    Izuku gulped. His hands went to the sides of the cloth, and slowly pulled it down. He could feel his heats burning. He looked away, and imagined that he was just taking a stroll around the park with Kacchan. _Not pulling down pants._

  
    But he was totally was pulling down some pants. _Kacchan! Just think of Kacchan..._

  
  
    Kacchan.....pants. Pulling Kacchan’s pants....

  
_  
_     NO! THAT'S NOT ANY BETTER-

  
  
    Izuku peeled his eyes open. His face was on fire right now. He looked to see that he finished the deed.

 

  
    “It’s not a big deal if you don’t make it one.” Tsuyu said. “That’s enough for today...let’s just go to the next exercise.” She tugged his sleeve. She directed him to the entrance of the castle.

  
  
    “I may have shown you around the castle yesterday, but you still might get lost because of the identical hallways,” she started. “So to get familiar with our surroundings, we’re going to jog all around the castle while naming all the places we’re at, okay? Pretty simple.”

 

    _This doesn’t seem too bad…_ (He was decent at running. Just recall the amount of times he ran away from Kacchan. Though he could never run for long without catching his breath.)

 

    “Let's start!” She called.

 

    So they ran. “Ballroom!” Tsuyu named.

 

    “B-Ballroom?” He repeated.

 

    “Kitchen!”

 

    “Uhh..Kitchen..!”

 

    “The Great Hall!”

 

    “G-Great Hall? What’s that…?”

 

    “A Great Hall,” she answered, jogging ahead of him.

 

    “Main dining Room!”

 

    “The d-dining Room!”

 

    “Bathing rooms!”

 

    “Bathing-” He paused. “Wait there are bathing rooms?”

 

    Tsuyu facepalmed.

 

    Izuku stopped for a moment, mostly to catch his breath but to also look at the room. Realization dawned upon him. “A-Am I going to have to bathe Prince Todoroki?!”

 

   She stared at him in disbelief. “You are going to be his personal servant, right? That means bathing him. We were going to do an exercise later to help you bathe-” She stopped, glancing at the blushing boy. “Maybe another day?”

 

    Izuku was too flustered to speak. He just nodded at Tsuyu. “Let’s continue with this exercise for now.” She ran off into the distance. It took Izuku a moment to catch up to her pace.

 

    They continued calling out places, including a million more Dining Rooms and Ballrooms. Izuku lost count of the amount of Ballrooms the castle had. But what shocked Izuku the most, was the fact that they had so many bed chambers that were left vacant. It made no sense to him, since he lived under a roof with only two bedrooms occupied by him and his mother.

 

    Izuku was panting once again after running around the castle for so long. “Tsuyu! C-Can we rest for a bit?”

 

    “We rested by the bathing rooms twenty minutes ago!”

 

    He groaned. _I don’t know how much more I can take…_ He took desperate strides towards his new friend, who in return, grinned at him before running at full speed. After a few more rooms, she announced the supposed, “good news”.

 

    “And that’s the end of the first floor!” She called. Izuku fell to the ground.

 

    “There’s..more…?” Izuku couldn’t move his body. “How many floors are there?”

 

    “Twenty.” She responded. Izuku gaped. “So let’s go!” Izuku groaned some more. Tsuyu ended up carrying his limp body up the stairs. He was surprisingly light. After climbing the stairs to the second floor, she dropped him.

 

    “That’s enough resting, let's do the second floor!”

 

—————

 

    Tsuyu knew Midoriya couldn’t run anymore. Or do anything else. He tried, he really did. But it was unavoidable when he collapsed on the ground, unconscious. Tsuyu carried him to his room, placing him in his bed and wrapping a blanket around his frail body. She sighed.

 

    “We had more exercises to go through,” she whispered. “But I guess this is your limit, huh?”

 

    “I’ll tell that to Ashido, so she’ll go easy on you tomorrow.” She walked up to the door frame, glancing at the green-haired boy one last time.

 

    “He’s so pure and innocent, I don’t even know what to do with him.”

 

—————

 

    When Izuku woke up, it was about midnight, the full moon beaming brightly. He rubbed his eyes, trying to recall the last thing that happened from his memories. _I was jogging around the castle with Tsuyu when everything suddenly went black...did she carry me all the way to my room? I should thank her for that…_

 

    He let his thoughts run, as he stared at the ceiling restlessly. His eyes drifted towards his small desk, where a pen and paper was laid out. An oil lamp illuminated the items. His thoughts went to his mom. _She cared about me so much. I don’t even deserve that love. I really miss her..._

 

    He went over to his desk, holding his pen up to start writing.

**Dear Mom,**

It’s only been two days since my arrival at King Todoroki’s castle, and I already miss you. Being a servant been a bit hard, but I can overcome it when I think of you. I miss your home cooked meals, your hugs. I hope I can see you again someday.

.

**Love, Izuku**

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

 

    Then, a certain explosive boy came to mind. Izuku felt a pang of guilt for not thinking of Kacchan as much as he used to. He takes out another piece of paper as he writes to Kacchan.

 

_I know ever since we were four and he got his quirk, Kacchan has been nothing but mean to me. But despite the way that Kacchan treats me, I know a side of him that no one else knows. He may be very cocky and have a superiority complex, yes. But he’s confident, never afraid of the unknown, and has this confident smirk whenever he overcomes something he sees as a challenge. I’ve always looked up to him, since I was an unconfident nobody. Despite that, he still played with me when we were younger. Despite the teasing when we were younger, I could tell he truly cared about me. That’s why I love him. Even if he’s far out of reach, even if he doesn’t love me back, even if he hurts me a million times, even if he finds someone else, the truth remains the same. I love him. It hurts too. That annoyed expression he makes each time he sees me, and the explosions that leave scars all over his body, they hurt indefinitely. But..still..I can’t do anything about these feelings. So I’ll say it in my head over and over again. I love him. I love him._

 

He wrote his heart out, his thoughts coming down on paper. His hands ache by the time he finishes. By the time he signs it, his tears stains the piece of paper. He shakily holds it up and rereads it. “I-I can’t give this to Kacchan.” Kacchan would probably blow up the piece of paper after seeing his name on it. And he knows Kacchan would never read it. Even if he did somehow read it, he’d probably just be confused. Still, Izuku put it in an envelope, and left it on his desk, alongside his letter to his mom. He couldn’t bring himself to throw away the letter.

 

    He goes to lie back down on his bed and goes back to sleep.

 

—————

 

    “Rise and shine Midoriya!” A cheerful voice awoke him. Izuku, being more prepared, opens his eyes to see Ashido.

 

    “Ashido…?” He squinted at the pink skinned girl.

 

    “That’s me!” She smiled bigger. “Let’s go!” She grabs his wrist and pulls him out of his room.

 

    “Tsuyu told me to go easy on you and all because you collapsed after jogging around the castle...but is that really necessary?” She asked.

 

    Izuku yawned. “Yeah…?”

 

    “Fine, but I’m not going totally easy on you. She also said you were a blushing mess with clothing the mannequin, which I wish I could've seen by the way,” she started. “But I think watching you bathe a mannequin would have the same effect, so I’m super excited!”

 

    Izuku remembers the mannequin. He puts his face in his hands. He doesn’t want a repeat of that.

 

    “But before that, let’s do our first exercise, m-kay?” Izuku nodded at her cheerfulness. It contrasted Tsuyu’s honest and calming nature, so it was definitely different from yesterday, but not in a totally bad way.

 

    Izuku once again did the plate exercise, which he’d gotten better at since yesterday. (Ashido said she was impressed.)

 

    “So, you’re kinda behind on the stuff you hav’ta do, so we’re going to start where we left off from yesterday. I’ll just walk you around the entire castle instead of jog. We’ll call out the rooms we pass, like you did yesterday. I mean, I can’t ruin that pretty face of yours.”

 

     Izuku let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you,” He says.

 

     As they walked around, Ashido spoke. “Tsuyu cares about you. That’s pretty rare. She would’ve been relentless to anyone else doing the orientation, but she told me to go easy on you. What’d you do to get on her good side?” She leaned into his space. He backed away, almost tripping in the process.

 

    “I-I didn’t do anything!” He held his hands up defensively. She laughed.

 

    “You’re hilarious. I believe you.” She let out another wholehearted laugh. Izuku laughed alongside her.”

 

    “Oh! Private bathing rooms!” She called.

 

    “Private bathing rooms,” He repeated. “W-Why are there private bathing rooms and a main bathing room?”

 

    “Because the King is rich,” she answered. ”I’m pretty sure he has one on each floor, which is overkill. I don’t blame him though, at least he’s clean!” Izuku couldn’t agree more.

 

    They called out more rooms, some of which Izuku didn’t know what purpose they served.

 

    “What’s a Boudoir?” He asked Ashido curiously.

 

    “A room you will never enter.” She answered quickly.

 

    “What do you mean?” He pressed on.

 

    “Why are you so interested about a Boudoir?” Despite the interrogating question, her grin only grew bigger.

 

    “I only wanted to know what it was!”

 

    “Ask Tsuyu!”

 

    Izuku looked over to see Tsuyu walking over. Ashido was holding in her laughter.

 

    “Tsuyu!” He called.

 

    “Yeah-“ she started.

 

    “What’s a Boudoir?”

 

    Ashido, unable to hold in her laughter anymore, bursted out laughing. Tsuyu stared at Izuku.

 

    “You don’t know what a-oh.” She cleared her throat and began explaining.

 

    Izuku widened his eyes. “O-Oh.”

 

—————

 

    Mina could hardly breathe. She was laughing so hard, she fell to the ground. _What’s a Boudoir?!_ _Oh my god! Midoriya’s so pure and innocent!_ His reaction was priceless when Tsuyu explained that a Boudoir was ‘a room for a woman to dress herself and relax.’

 

    “O-Oh.”

 

    She takes deep breaths, before continuing. “Wait until he finds out what a King Todoroki’s “Pleasure Chambers” is for,” she laughed even harder.

 

    “What’s that?” Midoriya asked. Her laughs only grew from there. “You’ll...find out soon enough.” Tsuyu responded for her. Tsuyu walked away soon after that, having to attend to something.

 

    It took a while for Mina to calm down, but she eventually did. “That’s enough of that for now. Let’s go to our next exercise!” Her smile grew. She knew the next exercise was going to be Midoriya bathing the mannequin, which she couldn’t wait to see his reaction to. “Let’s go!”

 

    Soon enough, they reached the bathing rooms, where Midoriya whined loudly about not doing the exercise.

 

    “You knew this was inevitable!” Mina laughed.

 

    “It doesn’t mean I wanna do it,” Izuku complained. “Can I do this another day?”

 

    “Nope!”

 

    She took out the conveniently placed mannequin and placed it in the bath. Midoriya looked away, his face already blushing. _This is going to be fun!_

 

“In order to bathe the Prince, you have to make him relax after a long stressful day,” she started. “Try massaging the mannequin!”

 

    “W-What?!” He exclaimed. “I thought I was supposed to bathe it, not massage it!”

 

    She held in her laughter. _He’s right, but I wanna have fun!_ She thought, mischievously. “This is all just part of the curriculum!”

 

    He hesitated, looking at his hands and clenching them. “I can’t have a repeat of the last time,” he mumbled to himself. (Which Mina thought was adorable!) “I have to do this…!”

 

    Midoriya placed his hands on the shoulders of the dummy and began massaging, eyes closed shut.

    “The Prince will find it disrespectful if you don’t look at him while bathing him~!” She giggled Midoriya gulped.

 

    He reluctantly opened his eyes, placing his thumbs at the bottom of the shoulder blades, and continued rubbing.

 

    “Okay, that’s enough. Now actually bathe him.” She fetched him a bucket of water. He poured it over the dummy thoughtlessly.

 

    “Not like that! You have to pour it over him slowly!” She took the bucket and filled it to the brim with water once again. She poured the contents over the mannequin slowly. “Like that, see?”

 

    He nodded and repeated her actions. “Now take some soap here,” she took out the soap. “And scrub him gently.” Midoriya gulped. He did as he was told.

 

    “Okay, now the legs-“

 

    “Do I have to do the legs?!” He exclaimed. Mina turned her head to the blushing Midoriya. “I really don’t want to!”

 

    She sighed. She had her fun, she didn’t want to push him. “I guess you don’t have to do that for this exercise, but if the Prince wants you to wash his legs, don’t freak out, ‘kay?”

 

    Midoriya sighed in relief.

 

    She cleaned up the bathroom and gestured to the door outside. “Let’s do our next exercise.” Midoriya nodded, following Mina.

 

     _Let’s just do something simple...like accessory sorting!_ Mina thought. She looked over to the green haired boy. _Now I see why Tsuyu went easy on him. He’s just so pure! I can’t play around with him without feeling bad!_

 

    They made it into the room with the accessories. “Okay, in that drawer, there are a buncha’ little bracelets, necklaces, little trinkets like that. Just sort them out in color.” She instructed.

 

    He complied easily. While he was sorting out the red-colored ones, he asked,

 

    “You’re going easy on me, right?”

 

     _So he caught on…_ “Yeah.” She answered.

 

    “And Tsuyu went easy on me too?” He looked at him with his big pure eyes.

 

    “I can’t say for certain if she did or not,” she said slowly. “But she said she felt sorry for going harder on you than you could handle.”

 

    “W-Why don’t you just do the initiation normally, instead of going easy on me? I know I’m weak, and I complain a lot, but you don’t have to listen to me,” he looked down. “I have to rely on you and Tsuyu. I don’t think I’m g-good for anything, honestly. I’m kinda like-like a _Deku_.” He laughed at the irony.

 

    She walked over to the boy. “Midoriya, you’re not good for nothing! You decided to do this job, didn’t you. And you seem super determined to do it too!”

 

    “That doesn’t mean anything. It just means I will only try and fail.” Tears welled up in his eyes.

 

    Mina looked at him sorrowfully. She felt bad for him, he didn’t deserve to think of himself in that way! She felt a pang of guilt for playing with him for a bit. She put her hand on his back.

 

    “It means, even though you’re knocked down failure after failure, you get back up and get stronger,” she started. “I like to think that earning your talents is a lot more rewarding than being born with them. Of course they’ll be the lucky people who are born with things like quirks, but remember, there’s still a 90 percent of us who had to face the struggle that you do.”

 

    He looked at her and sniffled. “The people on that 90 percent who are successful, they dealt with the same thing you’re dealing with right now. They had to start from the bottom, with no talents or anything redeemable. The thing that separates them from us, is that sheer determination that they have, and the fact that they let their friends help them. Maybe you don’t have a talent on hand right now, or maybe you do. Either way, you have that determination to get better, so you aren’t just a good for nothing, okay?”

 

    Midoriya wiped the tears from his eyes and smiled. He continued to sort the items. They sat in a comforting silence for a couple moments. Then she felt the need to mention something else.

 

    “Also, we aren’t going that easy on you.” This got his attention.

 

    “W-What do you mean?” He questioned. “Tsuyu said the orientation was one of the hardest things she had to do!”

 

    Mina chuckled. “It mostly depends on the person guiding the orientation. She just got unlucky and got harsh people! Mine was easy because my mentor was chill. All I had to do was just carry plates around, and name the places, but that’s it.”

 

    Midoriya pursed his lips. “S-So you can make it easy or hard?”

 

    “Yeah!” She smiled.

 

    Midoriya muttered under his breath, contemplating about her statement. ( _So adorable!)_

 

After a while, all the items were sorted out, and Midoriya was ready for the next exercise. But…

 

    “Well, that’s it for today! I’m tired!” Mina stated.

 

    “B-But...we barely did anything..!” Midoriya stammered. She grinned.

 

    “Do you want to do more?” She asked. Midoriya contemplated about it.

 

    “Not really?”

 

    “Then take the opportunity! Come on, I’ll walk you to your room,” she said, walking away.

 

    They walked to his room, mostly in silence, taking in the events of the day. Then as they approach his room, Midoriya remembers something.

 

    “H-Hey I just remembered something, can you stay out here while I get something?”

 

    “Sure,” she said.

 

     He bolted into his room, before quickly running back out with a letter in his hand.

 

    “U-Um..! I wrote a letter for my mom! C-Can you deliver it for me?” He held the letter out for Mina. She took it.

 

    “Sure!” Midoriya waved goodbye to Mina. She waved back.

 

    Mina holds out the letter. The envelope is signed with an almost illegible signature, but she’s able to make out the words. It read:

 

     _To Kacchan._

 

—————

 

    Izuku sighed, laying on his bed. He felt tired, somewhat, but when he tried to sleep, his eyes stayed wide open. His eyes looked at the letter on his desk.

 

     _Might as well read it again, since I don’t have anything else to do._

 

    He took the letter in his hand absentmindedly, and began to read it. Confusion spread across his face when he read the letter that he wrote to his mom. Then it dawned upon him…

 

     _If my letter for mom is right here, then my letter for Kacchan must be with..._

 

—————

 

    Mina stared at the letter in slight confusion. _Didn’t he say he wrote a letter for his mom? Who’s Kacchan?_ She thought. _It doesn’t sound like a normal name…_

 

    A part of Mina wanted to go back to Midoriya to ask him whether he gave him the right letter or not. Another part was genuinely curious what was inside the letter. The curious part of her room over, making her open the letter. _It’s only a peek, right?_

    Mina scanned the letter, reading the words on the page.

_**Dear Kacchan,** _

_First of all, please don’t explode this letter! Second of all, I just wanted to say hi! How’s being a part of the Elite Knights? It must be great, right? Honestly, I miss being around you...even though all you do is bully me. I miss you._

_Your confident smile, your burning red eyes, I miss it all. It’s like a puncture in my heart each time I think of you. And it seems I can only think of you. You probably don’t even care that I moved away to Endeavor, maybe you don’t even know! But I still miss you. I miss you so much, and you feel so far away. I can’t hear your voice, I can’t feel your presence, it’s all so weird. You beat me up constantly, and here I am, missing it. What a weirdo, right?_

_Still, I can’t say it enough. I miss you. I want you back. I want to be in your arms. I want your warmth. I want you. I know you hate me, but no matter what I do, I just can’t hate you back, I just can’t. And I guess there’s a reason for that._

_But now, you’re gone. Far off in the distance. Out of my reach. And I can’t do anything about it._

_I know you don’t feel the same way. You’d rather have me dead than be with me. It’s the truth, and I know that. Yet, despite that...I still…_

_I love you. I love you so much. I can’t stand it being apart from you. I need you. I hope I see you soon. I can’t stand this pain. It hurts as much as I love seeing you. But it hurts even more when you’re gone. Please, even if you ignore this letter, can you grant one last request for me?_

_Can you put a stop to these feelings?_

_The honest truth is, I kind of hoped moving away would get rid of this sinking gut feeling. But, it only hurts more._

_I thought love was supposed to be a fluttering feeling, something you’d look forward to. So, why is it each time I see you, I see all of my mistakes? Why do I see all my flaws? It hurts more than any knife wound or punch. Why does it hurt so much?_

_This isn’t healthy. Please, I can’t live with this anymore._

_I’m sorry for wasting your time,_

**_-Izuku Midoriya_ **

 

 

    Mina felt tears roll down her cheeks. _When was the last time I felt like this?_ She gently folded the piece of paper and placed it back in the envelope. She felt guilty for reading such a personal letter. But, she has to deliver the letter! She must! She wiped the tears from her eyes and walked over to the post office.

 

     _Oh Midoriya…_ She thought. _It must hurt him so much..._

 

 _—_ ————

 

    Izuku panicked. _What if Kacchan gets that letter?!_ He bolted out the room, where he heard footsteps echoing in the hall. Following the sound, he ran into Ashido, who was rubbing her eyes. The moment she saw him, she ran over to him and trapped him in a tight bear hug.

 

    “Midoriya!” She cried. “Are you okay?!” Izuku stared at her in confusion. He remembers why he was outside his room in the first place.

 

    “A-Ashido! Did you deliver that letter?” He looked at her, hoping for the answer he wanted.

 

    “Yeah,” she answered. Izuku was frozen in place. “Why?”

 

    At that moment, he prayed that he’d gotten the address wrong.

 

—————

 

Days after the letter incident, Izuku trained hard with Ashido and Tsuyu. The days he trained with Ashido were the calm relaxing days, while the days he trained with Tsuyu were more different, with more tasks and exercises to do and learn. Despite their different teaching methods, after the 2 week time frame Tsuyu declared he was,

 

    “-fit to be a servant,” she proclaimed. She gave him a some servant outfits he was expected to wear, and ushered him to go to bed after all his hard work. He collapsed onto his bed (which he’d gotten used to by now) and stared at the ceiling.

 

     _Now that my training is done,_ he thought, _I have my new objective._ He grinned at the thought of it. He raised his fist into the air in triumphant.

 

     _I’m going to befriend Prince Todoroki!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy! It's a longer chapter!!! Exciting! We'll have some Todoroki and Izuku interaction next chapter!
> 
> (Is too tired to reread and spell check everything. I did it, but then Grammarly crashed. Screw it!)
> 
> I edited this chapter cuz I found out about CSS. I wanted to test it out in my fanfiction, so here ya go!  
> (I think it looks better on computer)  
>  
> 
> I originally planned for Izuku to meet the person who's friends with his mom and got him the job in this chapter...and I was going to have them as Nighteye...but then I asked myself:
> 
> "What if the people who see this chapter haven't the manga..!"
> 
> So I didn't. I don't know whether I should go along with Nighteye and the story I plotted for him (like I originally planed!) or whether to replace him with a different character.
> 
> If I'm replacing him with a different character, then it's probably going to be another pro-hero in the canon series. I might use one of the Pussycats, but they also haven't been introduced in the anime, but they're going to be introduced sooner than Nighteye, so maybe?
> 
> Either way, I decided not to introduce them till later.
> 
>  
> 
> Also thanks for reading my fanfiction :O
> 
>  
> 
> Also I think I'm relating to Izuku too much...oh boy.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I just gave up on Chapter Titles...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O H ? 
> 
> a certain friend of mine was dying because I had fries over a discord chat, so to lighten their “fried” mood, I finally put off my hiatus and posted this crap. Enjoy!

Izuku got up before sunrise the next day. He peeked out his room in curiosity to check if Prince Todoroki was asleep. Turned out, the Prince was wide awake, completing some paperwork at his desk. Izuku sighed.

He made his way to the kitchen. The kitchen staff gave him plates stacked high with food. Using the training he got from the orientation, he made it back to Prince Todoroki’s room in record time.

“Prince T-Todoroki,” he announced. “I have you breakfast.” He cringed when his voice cracked.

The prince waved him off. “You don’t have to announce it. Just place it at my desk.”

Izuku silently obliged. He placed the plates on his desk, and stood at the corner of the room. He remembers a bit of training from Ashido.

_“Ashido...my feet are tired! I don’t see the point in standing for hours and hours!” Izuku complained._

_She sat on the ground with her feet crossed. “Please, it’s only been thirty minutes,” she remarked. “I’ll let you sit in thirty more.”_

_“How does being a personal servant require me standing for an hour?!”_

_“Prince Todoroki is going to do stuff by himself. Your job is to be at his beck and call. So basically you just stand in the corner until he calls you. And it could be up to hours at a time.”_

_“Can’t I just go into my room? It’s literally next door!” He complained._

_Mina shakes her head. “No. That’s not servant etiquette! You always have to be nearby!”_

_Izuku groaned._

He smiled as the thought of the memory came back to him. It was torture while it happened, but he eventually got used to it. He looks over to the silent prince.

“I hope you enjoy the food, Prince Todoroki.”

* * *

Strange. Shouto thought. That servant boy is definitely strange. Servants shouldn’t talk to their masters. _If I were my father, I would’ve put him to death by now. But I’m not. I’m not my father._

Shouto put the pen down and silently ate. _What’s even more strange is the fact that I’m even acknowledging him at all. I don’t even remember what my previous servant looked like; and yet this one can’t leave my mind. I feel like I’m going on the brink of insanity._

 _No. I’m just have to not think about him._ Though, that was easier said than done. While he was eating, he couldn’t ignore the presence of the boy lingering nearby. The way he fidgets and mutters to himself. Shouto couldn’t focus. It was getting on his nerves.

“You can go rest in your room. I won’t be needing any assistance at the moment.” He told the boy. But really, he just wanted to be able to focus. For some reason, he can’t focus when that servant is in the same room as him.

“Okay,” he shyly responded. “Call me whenever you need assistance.” He looked to the ground and went to his room.

 _Call me whenever you need assistance._ His mind echoed. He shook his head. This boy isn’t getting out of my head, is he?

After he finished his breakfast, he picked up his pen and started to draw. He really should’ve been working on his paperwork that his father assigned him...but even Shouto knew he didn’t care in the end. He just had to preoccupy his prodigy somehow, right?

Shouto found it funny. On the few trips he went outside, he saw the citizens praising his father. For “dealing with their trade issue”, or “securing an alliance with All Might.” Sure, his father seemed to be the forefront of all that, since he was the king. But the paperwork involved with it...Shouto was responsible for it all. Ever since he was five, his father made him take over the kingdom’s paperwork. He could barely even write when he was five! Surprisingly, there’s a lot of paperwork that comes with a kingdom. Trade with other countries, alliances, communication, etc. (Annoyingly enough, he always had to sign it with his father’s name instead of his own.)

Sometimes, while he goes on horse strolls, he’d hear the citizens gossip. One time, he wore a commoner’s hood and eavesdropped on a conversation nearby.

“That King Todoroki knows how to rule this kingdom!” Some stranger proclaimed.

“Sure, but he didn’t get his act together until about a little more than decade ago,” another said. “Before that, he just cared about power. But look, now our wells are full of water, there’s enough food to sustain all of us, our markets are up and functioning. My job pays well too! If he’s done all that, then he should be forgiven from his past, and be worshipped like the rightful king he is!”

He chuckled to himself. Little did they know...Shouto was the one who did all that. He limited the water supply for the rich to evenly distribute it with the poor. (The rich minority didn’t even notice that they had less water in their wells.) He was the one who ordered food markets to lower their prices, and the one who made it mandatory for those who worked in jobs to earn a higher salary.

(More often times than not, food was left out, because no one had the salary to pay for it. Only the wealthy men could afford it, so the sellers raised their prices. Not that the rich people minded, they didn’t notice. Because no one could buy the food, people resorted to thievery to feed their families. Shopkeepers eventually started to punish and kill those who stole from their shops. There was even a case where some man’s head was chopped off because they stole an apple for their daughter. Needless to say, he had to fix that before everyone started to massacre each other.)

Shouto was the one behind the scenes. He did the work. All his father did in terms of politics was become a fake figure head. But... in his domestic life, he was much different.

His dirty father only thirst for power. That was a fact that everyone who knew him personally knew. That’s why he married his mother, a princess from a foreign country far away from Endeavor. In normal royal families, the first male born takes the crown. The Todoroki Family was one of the few exceptions of this.

Ever since quirks were discovered, kingdoms developed around them. The families with quirks became the most well known and most of the time-the rulers of a country. His father took this to the extreme.

The reason his father married his mother wasn’t because of an alliance. It was because of her ice quirk, developed in the cold lands of her home country. As soon as he took her hand in marriage, he immediately used her. His father wanted his country to grow stronger than All Might and eventually overtake it. But no matter how hard he tried, war after war, he couldn’t defeat All Might, under ruler King Toshinori. Loss after loss, and his father was getting desperate. He set up a cease fire (eventually becoming an alliance) with All Might. Little did the king of All Might know, his father had his own plans to grow stronger. (Perhaps he thought since he could never overtake All Might, he should just grow his country stronger?)

And his plan involved an heir with half of his fire quirk and half of a certain princess’ ice quirk.

His first born was Fuyumi Todoroki. When she turned four, she possessed a quirk. An ice quirk, just like her mother with no reminance of fire. Endeavor was infuriated. Then he tried again with his second born and third born. They all other received the king’s fire quirk or the princess’ ice quirk. It was never both. At least, until Shouto was born.

Shouto showed promise of being a powerful leader from the moment he was born. He was quiet and reserved, but spoke when he needed to. The King had high hopes for the boy and when he turned the age of four, those hopes were met for the first time. Immediately after he found out that one of his heirs received both of his quirks, he crowned that heir as the Crown Prince. Not that four year old Shouto would understand what the implications of that were.

He was given a “special training” that the king did only for Shouto. (Still makes him train with him to this day.) He gave him more attention than the rest of his kids. He was shaping up Shouto to be one of the best rulers in the world.

And it was awful.

“I-I hate him Mommy!” Shouto screamed in the comfort of his mother. “I don’t wanna be like Daddy! Someone who hurts Mommy! I don’t wanna be like that!” He cried.

“But you want to be a king, right?” His mom smiled sadly at him.

“Y-Yeah! I’ll be a good King! One who doesn’t hurt Mommy!” The boy grinned naively at his mom.

* * *

Shouto’s heterochromatic eyes looked outside his balcony. His siblings played a game of ball. It seemed so fun...they looked so happy…

“Shouto,” his father voice rang. Oh no...that means… “Don’t look at them. Your siblings belong in a different world from you. Let’s go. We have training to do.”

He gulped.

His training was more rigorous that day.

* * *

Shouto should’ve been asleep, but he heard muttering from the kitchen. He peeked from the outside of the kitchen.

His mother vigorously wrote on a piece of paper. What could Mommy be writing?

His mother got up and left, tending to a boiling kettle pot in the next room.

Shouto entered the kitchen. He looked at the paper that his Mommy left out. Out of curiosity, he decided to read the paper, trying to decipher what the bigger words meant.

[Dear Mother,

I can’t live here anymore. Enji Todoroki isn’t the man he seems. It’s dangerous here-I could die! I can’t raise the children. Did you know that he doesn’t even visit his children? He only pays attention to Shouto. It hurts me to raise them too. Every day, they just seem more like that monster.

And Shouto...His left side...He looks just like that monster...Sometimes I look at him and hate what I see.

I can’t raise him anymore. I shouldn’t raise him.

I can’t live in this hell anymore. Please, send a carriage my way.]

“...Shouto…?” His mom called. Shouto looked up from the letter. Her grip tighten on the kettle in her hands.

“...Mommy?” He whimpered. Shaking, she took the kettle full of boiling hot water and-

* * *

Shouto dropped his pen. Little icicles formed where he was holding the pen. He was shaking. He didn’t mean to think of his mother-

He took a look at his drawing.

A white tulip. He drew a detailed sketch of a white tulip. A white tulip was mom’s favorite flower…

* * *

Shouto and his mother were going on a stroll in the castle garden. Shouto touched all the flowers, all in a variety of colors. He sniffed a white one.

“Mommy! Look!” He pointed at the white tulip. “It’s so pretty!” He awed.

The princess chuckled. “You found my favorite flower Shouto,” she said. “It’s called a white tulip. It’s the flower of forgiveness, so you’d give it to someone to apologize.”

“Can I have one?” He asked. The white haired mother smiled.

His mother picked the flower and gave it to Shouto. He smiled brightly.

“Thank you Mommy!” he held the flower to his chest. “I’ll cherish it forever!”

The mother put her hand on the prince’s shoulder. “Make sure to feed it water and give it plenty of sunshine, okay?”

“Okay mom!” She smiled sadly.

* * *

Shouto’s head turned over to his window, where a single vase was placed. Inside the vase was a white tulip, gifted to him by his mother all those years ago. It shone in the morning light, blooming beautifully. The white of the flower reminded him of only one person.

Mother…

* * *

Izuku grew restless as he laid on his bed. _I wonder how Prince Todoroki is doing. I hope he’s doing well with the paperwork. Maybe I should help him with it. I might not be that useful…but I should try!_

He opened the door to his room and started to greet Todoroki.

“Prince Todoroki, do you-“ he was cut off by the sight of the prince kneeling next to a vase. (Izuku didn’t notice that vase before.) The prince turned to the servant, his hand cupped over the left side of his face. He looked so sad...Izuku wanted to help.

They just stayed in their positions. No words came out of their mouths, yet it felt like a very intense conversation was going on.

 _Leave me be._ His eyes seemed to say. _I don’t need help._ Go away. Izuku obeyed it’s orders, going back into his room and promptly shutting the door.

 _Those eyes…_ Izuku couldn’t get the image of his sadden eyes out of his head. It felt like a stab to his chest. He didn’t even know him...so why does it hurt seeing him like that?

He laid on his bed, the image of those heterochromatic unfocused eyes never leaving his head.

* * *

_I’m hungry…_ Izuku thought as his stomach growled. _I could use some lunch...lunch...crap I forgot bring lunch to Prince Todoroki!_

He burst out his room in top speed, and ran down to the lunch room. He took up the first couple plates he saw, and sped back up into Prince Todoroki’s room. He slammed the door open, apologizing profusely.

“I’m so sorry for being late for lunch…!” Izuku stammered. “Please take my humblest apologies!” He placed the food on the table.

Todoroki stared at the boy. He said nothing as he slowly ate the food.

* * *

_…It was dinner time…_ Shouto thought as he chewed his food. He didn’t feel like mentioning to his servant though. His servant...Midoriya was it? Midoriya seemed to be stressing his first day already. Shouto observed the way the fiddled with his hands and bit his lip. He could tell he was refraining himself from asking what Shouto was doing earlier. Not that he wanted to tell him...he wouldn’t let anyone within his walls.

* * *

Izuku knew the had to break the awkward tension between him and the prince if he wanted to befriend him. Still, talking to an almost complete stranger was hard.

“Ahmm...So how’s the food Prince Todoroki?” he managed to say.

The Prince wiped his mouth with a napkin. “Delightful, as always. Tell the kitchen staff later that the food is exquisite.”

Izuku nodded. He was surprised Prince Todoroki even responded at all. As he finished his food, Izuku walked over to pick up the plates and went to the kitchen to return the plates.

Before he left the kitchen, he told the kitchen staff that the crown prince complimented their food. They responded quite bashfully, telling him to let Prince Todoroki know that they said thank you in return.

“Your majesty, the kitchen staff thank you greatly for the compliment.” He said as he walked in the room.

The crown prince nodded politely. “That’s all for today, you may return to your own room.”

As Izuku went to his own room, he looked down in sorrow. _I didn’t manage to befriend him today…_ He lied on his bed. _I’ll...try again tomorrow!_

As his eyes grew heavy, he closed his eyes and fell asleep, hoping for the best tomorrow.

* * *

Izuku panicked. Where was Prince Todoroki?! He searched his entire room, to no avail. (The room was really big.) He ran a hand through his hair. He had just woken up when he found out that the Prince left his room without alerting him. Would he be beheaded if anyone found out he lost the crown prince?! What if the Prince was kidnapped?

Izuku burst out the room, searching in vain through the vast hallways for his master.

_Where was he...Where was he?_

He turned the corner, where the door to the throne room was already open. Peeking inside, he noticed a line of commoners lined up to speak to his highness. The King sat on his high throne with his bodyguards standing side to side from him.

He saw an old lady speaking with the King. She had a sweet smile, vaguely reminding Izuku was his mother.

“Your highness,” her voice cracked. “My son has been mugged by ruthless thugs, robbing him of his money and clothes. All I ask is a safe home and some money for him. He’s all I live for.”

The King stared at the lady with bored eyes.

“Pah!,” he spat. “That’s not any of my concern. Don’t waste my time with useless affairs. Now, begone, before I send my guards to deal with you.” He gestured to the door, where Izuku stood.

Izuku left the scene before the King could notice his presence.

Izuku paced around racked his brain. _Where would the Prince go? He’d only been with him for a day, a day where the Prince did nothing but paperwork._

He looked out the nearest window. It was about sunrise, the sun peering from the ground. Birds happily chirped outside. In the distance was a silhouette of a man riding a snow-white horse. He had red-white hair, just like-

_Wait._

He scanned over the man again.

_Todoroki?!_

He rushed out the castle gates, and to the direction of Todoroki. He was walking his horse towards what appeared to be a horse stable.

“P-Prince Todoroki!” He called. The Prince turned his head and made direct eye contact with him. Those cold heterochromatic blue and gray eyes… Izuku shook his head. _Not now..!_

“Midoriya?” Todoroki addressed.

“W-Where were you?” Izuku huffed. “You shouldn’t go anywhere without me..!”

“I went horse riding to clear my mind,” he stated plainly. “It was going to be a quick ride, so I felt no need to inform you.”

Izuku fell silent. His view drifted to his horse, NOT in his stable.

“At least allow me to walk your horse into the stable!”

“No thanks. I’ll walk her over.” Todoroki started walking away. Izuku caught up with the Prince’s pace.

“No, I insist!” He gripped the leash of the horse against the Prince’s will and started walking her over to her stable. The Prince didn’t argue.

The rest of the interaction was pained silence, the opposite of what Izuku wanted. As they walked to his room, he tried to strike up another conversation.

“So...the weather…?” He prompted. Todoroki turned over to his direction. “H-How’s the weather?”

Silence. Well, Izuku thought. _At least he isn’t forcing me to stay silent._

“It was nice,” Todoroki replied. Izuku was shaken out of his daze. He was honestly shocked the Prince replied to him, albeit quite delayed.

More silence. Despite the silence on the way back, Izuku felt good. Maybe this was a start to something new. Maybe this was the start to their friendship. Who knows.

**Author's Note:**

> woah first fanfic :O
> 
> I tried though!
> 
> Feel free to leave comments and criticism!
> 
> (Also if they’re are any spelling errors, please do correct me!)


End file.
